Journal-Sept

Paul In Antarctica

Journal-September

Oct 1 I am packed and ready for bed. I have a 4 am wake up to catch the 5 am shuttle to my 6 am check-in for a 9 am flight. Can you say " hurry up and wait " ? We had intended to have a potluck tonight to get rid of the last of our food but it all looked so bad we decided to go out for Mexican food. Let me tell you about a Mexican Restaurant run by Kiwis. First of all let me say the food was excellent and I really enjoyed it but chips and salsa cost $8 and came in a breakfast cereal size bowl and the price did not include refills. Guacamole was $10 and sour cream was $4. We had a Chile Rellano as an appetizer that was flavored with Orange zest. I ordered Fajitas and they came with a garlic sauce instead of pico de gayo. For dessert I had a goat cheese pumpkin cheesecake that was terrific. With one beer included my meal came to $54. All I can say is that Christchurch is a long way from Mexico. Tomorrow I fly the USAF C-17 to McMurdo so this will be my last entry of the NZ log. See you on the ice.

Bust of Roald Amundsen

Rub his nose for luck

Sept 30 It is another fine spring day in New Zealand.Daylight Saving Time started here last night so I lost an hour of sleep but I expect to make it up with a good nap. I took a bus trip to see some of the countryside and to see the Pacific Ocean. I also went to the Canterbury Museum and rubbed the nose of Roald Amundsen for good luck which is a tradition for people traveling to the ice. The Rugby game last night was very interesting. There was no announcer and no real scoreboard so it was tough to tell what was going on. The game is fast paced though. They play two 40 minutes halfs with a 10 minute halftime. Much like hockey it is a better game in person than on TV. Auckland won 26-15 so the home crowd was disappointed. Tomorrow is my last full day in New Zealand. I have packing to do and then head to the US Antarctic Program terminal at 5 am Oct 2nd for the 6 hour flight to McMurdo. I have had such a great time in New Zealand that I hate to leave but I am ready for the real adventure to begin.

Sept 28 I am finished with training and I am now an Air Force certified loadplanner. This weekend I am attending a Rugby match. (Canterbury VS Auckland , GO CANTERBURY !!) and I am taking a bus ride thru the New Zealand countryside. If you want to see what someone who will be going to the South Pole looks like here is a photo of Wendy Bever from Denver Colorado. She will be the South Pole loadplanner. She was modeling her new sheep skin slippers and hat. I told her she looks like she should be in a Dr Suess book. She was a hot air ballon pilot in Africa and this will be her first trip to Antarctica. Since everyone completed the Loadplanning course we are going to have a big dinner tonight and celebrate.

Wendy Bever models her hat and slippers

A Polie

Sept 27 I am into my second week in New Zealand so let me tell you 5 things I like about the Kiwis and their country.

1. Friendly people. The Kiwis will go out of their way to greet you and chat. Just tonight the clerk at a convenience store talked to me for 15 minutes about the USA.

2. Kiwis seem to think everything tastes better baked in a crust. My dinner tonight was Steak and Cheese pie and it was wonderful. They have savory pies down to an art form.

3. The bus system. It is clean, on time and cheap. For $3.80 you can ride the bus all day long. At most bus stops you can push a button and it will tell you how long until the next bus arrives. The most amazing part to me is that when you run out of fare on your bus card you can go into a negative balance and just pay up the next time you ride.

4. No pennies or nickles. Everything is priced to the even 10 cents.

5. Every restaurant will split a check no matter how large the party is and no tipping is expected.

Sept 22 It is my day off and it sure felt good to sleep in. It is a wonderful spring day and I was able to wander around Christchurch and snap some photos.

This is the view from my room

Street fair at the Arts Center

Springtime in New Zealand

Cathedral Square

Playing Chess in Cathedral Square

Avon River

Punting the Avon River

Sept 21 I have completed Phase 1 of my training and passed the test that allows me to move on to Phase II. We are now deeply into aircraft load planning. Try taking 16 people and their gear , a truck or two, a loaded trailer and a 5,000 pound pallet and getting it all on a C-130 so that everything is in balance and the plane can fly safely. Believe me it is not easy. Next week we start load planning for the C-17 and the C-5 aircraft and they are even tougher. At least we get a day off now so I will do a bit of sightseeing . If you are complaining about the price of gas let me tell you about a couple prices here. Yesterday I bought a small roll of paper towels for $4 and a box of 20 drier sheets on sale for $4.50. A girl I train with bought a bottle of Sally Hansen nail polish and it was $16. Now those prices are Kiwi Dollars but even with the conversion rate prices are high here for most things. Speaking of drier sheets my clothes drier is an interesting piece of work. It turns one way for a while and then changes direction and turns the other. I have no idea why. All it seems to do is put the most horrendous wrinkles in my clothes. I have to iron almost everything.

So what kind of people want to work in Antarctica ? Let me tell you a bit about my co-workers. One lady in her mid 50's spent 6 years as a hot air balloon pilot running balloon safaris in Africa. One guy is a retired Army Special Forces Master Sgt who has served undercover in Iraq. A girl spent last summer riding her bike from Canada to Mexico along the Pacific Coast. Another guy spends the summer delivering horses all over the US. The rest are all sky divers, snowboarders/skiers, mountain climbers, basejumpers and whitewater rafters. Everyone has plenty of exciting stories to tell. This is the most diverse group I have ever met and they are all nice people.

Headed For Training

Day 1

Sept 19 We started training today. Our instructors are 2 US Air Force TSgts from Travis AFB in California. They are training us on Air Force air cargo regulations and procedures. The highlight of the day was calculating the balance point of vehicles. Imagine looking at an 18 wheeler and trying to figure out where the balance point would be. Well it takes math and I need to thank my nephew Brad who has taken a similar course for telling me to bring a calculator. Tomorrow we actually start working with Air Force pallet systems and do some cargo mock ups. Here is a photo of my group heading in for our first day of training. Do we walk like we are tired ??

My Apartment Building

My room is the fifth floor on the left

Sept 18 I am in Christchurch New Zealand. The flight across the Pacific was not as bad as I thought it would be, I departed Las Angeles CA for Auckland NZ at 9 pm and by the time Qantas served dinner I was pretty sleepy. I managed to sleep 6 hours straight and since there was noone sitting beside me I could stretch out. Qantas also has free ondemand movies , music and TV at every seat and that helped the time fly by. The short flight from Auckland to Christchurch was amazing. The weather was clear and we flew 3/4 of the way over New Zealand so I got to see most of it. It is one of the prettiest places I have seen. I will be in Christchurch for the next 2 weeks training on Air Force load planning and cargo handling. I am staying in a 1 bedroom apt right down town within walking distance to great places to eat. It has been an abrupt change of seasons from the early fall of Indiana to the early spring of NZ. The trees are in blossom and the locals are all commenting on how happy they are for winter to be over. OK I have only been here 1 day but I have learned interesting things already. New Zealand McDonalds serves a hamburger with avacado and beets. In fact beets seem to be a common addition to most New Zealand sandwiches instead of pickles. I also learned that since they drive on the "wrong" side of the road over here that you have to be very careful walking across the street. Looking both directions several times can save your life. The people are friendly and and for the most part I can understand what they are saying so life is good.

Sept 15 The day started out great !!! RPSC gave me a fine pair of Golden Retriever work boots and $440 cash for my travel funds. The day was spent learning about RPSC rules and regulations and the responsibilities of being a leader on the ice. The other cargo teamleaders are great. All 5 of them have been on the ice before and gave me plenty of good advice. 2 of them are from Bend OR, one of my favorite cities so we had plenty to talk about. Tomorrow is the long flight day OH BOY !!

Sept 14 ,2007 Well I am on my way !! I flew out of Indianapolis to Denver Colorado. I will be here for 1 ½ days for safety training and orientation. I am only allowed 75 pounds of luggage for the flight to Antarctica and of that approximately 35 pounds will be the Extreme Cold Weather Wear ( ECW ) that will be issued in New Zealand. That left me with 40 pounds for my gear. It took me 3 attempts to pack and repack. When I packed everything I wanted the bags weighed over 70 pounds but I finally got it down to 40 LBS. Here is my packing list

1 pair athletic shoes

1 pair Merrell Hiking Boots

2 pair athletic socks

6 pair Arctic wt work socks

1 pair glove liners

4 pair North Face pants

1 stocking cap

1 baseball cap

2 pair casual socks

1 leather belt

5 pair boxer shorts

1 pair thermal underwear

2 towels

1 wash cloth

1 laundry bag

2 colored T shirts

1 pair shower shoes

1 long sleeve T shirt

1 white T shirt

1 pair gym shorts

1 med wt flannel shirt

1 heavy wt flannel shirt

1 book “ The Innocents Abroad “ by Mark Twain

1 dress shirt

4 bottles contact lens solution

1 travel mug

1 pair of glacier glasses

1 pair Julbo Sunglasses

1 pair safety glasses

1 pair reading glasses

1 Fleece jacket

1 Gore Tex jacket

16 tubes of Chapstick

1 MP3 player

1 Digital Camera

1 laptop computer

3 memo pads

3 -50 degree ink pens

1 alarm clock

1 notepad

4 contact lens

1 toiletry kit

1 Casio watch